THE MURAL THAT LIGHTS UP MORE THAN JUST AN ALLEY

A bland alleyway next to CVS on Main Street is getting an artistic contribution. And, for me, it captures what it means to be an American and a Watertownian.

Here’s an excerpt from one of the greatest speeches ever made by a modern-era American president.

“Now, tomorrow is a special day for me. I'm going to receive my gold watch. And since this is the last speech that I will give as President, I think it's fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a country which I love. It was stated best in a letter I received not long ago. A man wrote me and said: ‘You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.’

Yes, the torch of Lady Liberty symbolizes our freedom and represents our heritage, the compact with our parents, our grandparents, and our ancestors. It is that lady who gives us our great and special place in the world. For it's the great life force of each generation of new Americans that guarantees that America's triumph shall continue unsurpassed into the next century and beyond. Other countries may seek to compete with us; but in one vital area, as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on Earth comes close.

This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America's greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people -- our strength -- from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation. While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”

If you guessed Barack Obama, as the president who delivered this speech, you would have guessed wrong. Well then, how about Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter?  Nope. Such eloquence might sound to you like pure J.F.K.

It might surprise some of you that the speaker was Ronald Reagan, the embodiment of American Conservatism when American Conservatism was actually a thing.

But this blog post is not about national politics. It’s about the community of Watertown and the battle for how it gets portrayed. Is it a vibrant modern-day melting pot where newcomers are invited and their contributions are welcomed or are we a community that turns a blind eye to the pervasive trampling of human rights, as some of our elected and unelected leaders would have us believe?

You already know where I stand. The Battle for Watertown is a battle between two realities − one of them true and the other a cynical fabrication. But I will save that conversation for another day.

If you haven’t already met them, allow me to introduce you to Amir and Nilou. They left their homeland in Iran and found a new home in Watertown. There is nothing new about that story. What is unique is the nature of their contribution to the landscape and the spirit of Watertown.

Elodia and I have been watching the mural in progress and chatting with the artists whose warmth and optimism are highly contagious. You should make it a point to stop by and give them a Watertown welcome before they complete their work in the next couple of weeks.

I will resist making a clumsy attempt to analyze or interpret the mural. Personally, I don’t analyze it at all. I just gaze at it and allow it to speak to me. I will just say that for me the scene is both old and modern and both abstract and concrete.

Like its creators, it is so, so Watertown.

The name of the mural is I See a Dream. The alley is currently named Merchants Row, which makes absolutely no sense. It should be renamed Dreamers Alley. 

Bruce Coltin, The Battle For Watertown